Fight Continues for the Western MeadowlarksMonday, July 16, 2012
By: Jennifer Janssen

U.S. House Agriculture Committee passes a Farm Bill that includes subsidies that reward people for destroying wetlands and causing soil erosion.

Much of
the United States once supported a vast sea of native grassland. Today, in many parts of the country, that sea
of grass has been reduced by more than 90 percent, and along with it, birds
like the Western Meadowlark have declined.

The lack of wetlands protection requirements
on crop insurance means that the estimated $90 billion to be spent on taxpayer
subsidies for crop insurance over the next ten years could be subsidizing the
destruction of tens of thousands of acres of valuable wetlands, resulting in
increased downstream flooding and loss of wildlife habitat. This provision was
included in the Senate bill after an amendment on the floor.